The human communication process has evolved over thousands of years to principally include both spoken and written communication. In addition, over time much of the combined knowledge base of the world has been recorded in written form (e.g., in books), so that others are able to more conveniently access and use such information.
With the advent of computer technology, more and more information is stored in an electronic form and accessed via a computer, rather than via the written page. Nonetheless, throughout the evolution of human communication, information has always be regarded as being essentially one-dimensional--that is, a series of ideas strung together in a sequence of words or pages. Book pages and computer displays are each two-dimensional in nature, and may even provide two dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects. However, the basic structure of a collection of information presented in either case is still for the most part one-dimensional insofar as a person processes the information in a generally linear fashion.
A specific type of collection of information is a collection of chronologically-arranged information. For example, a literary work such as a fictional story or non-fictional account of events includes information that is generally indexable along a time line. Similarly, explanations of methods or processes may be indexable along a relative time line, e.g., where step A is performed, then step B is performed, etc. Due to these chronological arrangements, such information is naturally processed linearly in most circumstances.
A one-dimensional representation of information may be adequate for some when the amount of information is not that great. However, a person may have difficulty fully comprehending a collection of information about a particular topic when the information is located in several sources and/or when the information is associated with several levels of abstraction.
A level of abstraction typically relates to a particular manner of looking at a given collection of information, also referred to as a body of knowledge. Among other criteria, different levels of abstraction may relate to different comprehension levels, e.g., a basic or summary level vs. an advanced level, or different points of view or ways of looking at or stratifying the information. For example, a historical event may be told from different perspectives, e.g., from different witnesses to the event.
When accessing such information, however, a person may be required to manage and understand a number of levels of abstraction at the same time. However, since both books and computers typically require a person to access information from one source, and/or from one level of abstraction, at a time, the person may be forced to plod through information in a linear fashion and without the ability to visualize the relationship of the information in the broader scope of the body of knowledge. Continuing with the example of a learning about a historical event, a person may be required to manage and understand the accounts of the same events by different witnesses, but only by reviewing each witness account in sequence. The specific facts in previously-reviewed accounts may become lost or confused when facts regarding the same events as told by later witnesses are reviewed.
Furthermore, in the instances where a person is able to access information from more than one source or level of abstraction, the information is often provided in disjointed views, offering no opportunity for a person to visualize the interaction of information from different levels and/or sources. When accessing books, a person may review different books related to a given topic, or may review different sections or chapters within the same book. Even though a person can open two books at the same time, the person still is required to shift his or her focus back and forth between the books, and between different pages in those books. As a result, the person is required to consciously recognize and maintain any associations in the information.
Many of the same difficulties associated with accessing and authoring information in book form are also associated with information in electronic form. Many computer systems, for example, use graphical user interfaces (GUIs) through which users are able to interact with the computer systems through intuitive operations such as "pointing and clicking" on graphical display elements. Information is often presented to a user in a GUI environment using a graphical user interface component known as a window. Each computer software application executing in a GUI environment is typically allocated one or more windows to present information to and/or receive input from a user. Moreover, a number of computer systems provide the ability to multitask--that is, to execute more than one computer software application at the same time--such that windows from multiple applications may be displayed on a computer display simultaneously.
While information from more than one source or level of abstraction for a body of knowledge may be displayed simultaneously in different windows on a computer system, the relationship between the information displayed in the different windows, as well as the relationship of the information within the broader scope of the body of knowledge, is often not readily discernable by a user. As a result, it can become difficult for a user to manage the information in a coherent manner. Switching between different formats and views can become disorienting and distracting, often significantly impeding the learning process.
Therefore, a significant need exists for an improved manner of representing a collection of chronologically-arranged information in a computer system to facilitate user understanding and comprehension.